Meat Recalls Research Articles

Effect of food safety recalls on consumer meat purchase: evidence from meat recalls 2007–2017

Abstract Food safety is a global public health concern, and food recalls cause several foodborne illnesses and significant costs to human health. We estimate the impact of meat recalls on consumer meat purchase in the USA using household-level scanner data. Meat recalls have a statistically significant but short-lived and small reduction in consumer meat purchase, suggesting an economically small impact on the intensive (how much to decrease) and extensive (whether to purchase) margins. There is heterogeneity in consumer recall response across household demographic and recall characteristics. The results provide an insight into domestic and international policymakers and industry stakeholders about food safety.

The Long‐Term Effects of Meat Recalls on Futures Markets

AbstractOver the past twenty years, there has been an increasing trend in the number of food safety events. Despite increased safety control standards, foodborne disease outbreaks continue to impact the food supply. A common source of foodborne illness and fatal infection is beef, with potential causes being E. coli 0157: H7, Listeria Monocytogenes, and Salmonella. Certain companies have even been bankrupted, unable to overcome the social costs and economic losses associated with recalls. We look beyond the impact on processors to see the amount of impact transmitted through price channels to cattle farmers. We examine beef recalls over a twenty‐year period through an accumulated two‐year index to see if there is a prolonged effect of recalls on current weekly cattle prices. We find that food safety events act together, adversely impacting prices and decreasing farm‐level revenue. The finding that economic harm to the beef industry from food safety events lingers for at least two years suggests that the industry should do more to reduce food safety incidents.

Characterization of a Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella enterica Serovar Heidelberg Outbreak Strain in Commercial Turkeys: Colonization, Transmission, and Host Transcriptional Response.

In recent years, multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg (S. Heidelberg) has been associated with numerous human foodborne illness outbreaks due to consumption of poultry. For example, in 2011, an MDR S. Heidelberg outbreak associated with ground turkey sickened 136 individuals and resulted in 1 death. In response to this outbreak, 36 million pounds of ground turkey were recalled, one of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history. To investigate colonization of turkeys with an MDR S. Heidelberg strain isolated from the ground turkey outbreak, two turkey trials were performed. In experiment 1, 3-week-old turkeys were inoculated with 108 or 1010 CFU of the MDR S. Heidelberg isolate, and fecal shedding and tissue colonization were detected following colonization for up to 14 days. Turkey gene expression in response to S. Heidelberg exposure revealed 18 genes that were differentially expressed at 2 days following inoculation compared to pre-inoculation. In a second trial, 1-day-old poults were inoculated with 104 CFU of MDR S. Heidelberg to monitor transmission of Salmonella from inoculated poults (index group) to naive penmates (sentinel group). The transmission of MDR S. Heidelberg from index to sentinel poults was efficient with cecum colonization increasing 2 Log10 CFU above the inoculum dose at 9 days post-inoculation. This differed from the 3-week-old poults inoculated with 1010 CFU of MDR S. Heidelberg in experiment 1 as Salmonella fecal shedding and tissue colonization decreased over the 14-day period compared to the inoculum dose. These data suggest that young poults are susceptible to colonization by MDR S. Heidelberg, and interventions must target turkeys when they are most vulnerable to prevent Salmonella colonization and transmission in the flock. Together, the data support the growing body of literature indicating that Salmonella establishes a commensal-like condition in livestock and poultry, contributing to the asymptomatic carrier status of the human foodborne pathogen in our animal food supply.

The impact of E. Coli O157:H7 recalls on live cattle futures prices: Revisited

Meat recalls have the potential to adversely affect the demand for meat due to the associated decline in consumers and investors’ confidence. The objective of this study is to investigate the impacts of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 recall announcements on the nearby cattle futures prices using data from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Services (FSIS) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Live Cattle futures. The results show that E. Coli O157:H7 recalls have adverse impacts on the nearby cattle futures prices, but the impacts are short-lived.

Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Meat Products

Problem statement: The objective of this study was to develop a rapid and sensitive method for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes and to screen large number of ready-to-eat (RTE) meat samples. Approach: A total of 250 fresh RTE meat samples of different varieties (chicken, turkey, beef, pork and cold cuts) were purchased from local grocery stores. Results: From the 250 total samples, 50 samples were randomly selected and subjected to DNA extraction, and immunomagnetic Separation (IMS) followed by RT-PCR analysis using primers against L. monocytogenes specific gene (hlyA). Five RTE samples negative by culture and by RT-PCR were spiked with L. monocytogenes (ATCC-19111) and used as positive controls. While all positive samples were detected as positive, all 50 samples were negative with both methods i.e., IMS followed by hlyA gene-based RT-PCR assay and the standard culture methods. Following this, all the 250 samples were tested by standard culture method as well as the IMS+RT-PCR assay. Five samples (2.0%) were presumptively diagnosed as positive for Listeria on Oxford agar. All the five confirmed to be positive for L. monocytogenes by IMS+RT-PCR assay. Conclusion/Recommendations: The IMS + RT-PCR procedure was considerably more rapid and required only 28 h compared to 96-120 h for the conventional culture method. This method would be useful as the criteria for addressing the costly meat recalls and reducing outbreaks.

Reduction of E. coli O157:H7 populations in sheep by supplementation of an experimental sodium chlorate product

Ruminant animals are naturally infected with the pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7, annually responsible for numerous meat recalls, foodborne illnesses and deaths. E. coli are equipped with the enzyme nitrate reductase, which not only enables this bacteria to respire anaerobically, but also converts chlorate to the toxic metabolite chlorite. This enzyme system is particular to only a few intestinal bacteria, therefore the vast majority are not affected by chlorate. Sodium chlorate has been shown to effectively decrease foodborne pathogens in several livestock species, including ruminants. However, because infection and proliferation of E. coli occurs primarily in the lower intestine, there is interest in “by-passing” the rumen, thereby, delivering chlorate directly to the largest population of pathogens. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the ability of an experimental sodium chlorate product (ECP II), designed to by-pass the rumen, in reducing fecal shedding and gut concentrations of E. coli O157:H7. Twenty crossbred mature ewes were adapted to a high grain ration and experimentally inoculated with E. coli O157:H7. Thirty-six hours following inoculation, sheep received in their feed one of the following ECP treatments: (1) control (CON), no chlorate; (2) 1 X (LOW); (3) 2 X (MED); and (4) 4 X (HIGH) where X=1.1 g chlorate ion equivalents/kg BW (five sheep per treatment). Fecal samples were collected every 12 h following inoculation and 24 h following the feeding of chlorate, all animals were euthanized and tissue samples and their respective contents collected from the rumen, cecum and rectum. The MED and HIGH chlorate treatments significantly reduced fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7 compared to the CON treatment [1.53, 1.11, and 3.89 CFU/g feces (log 10), respectively]. Ruminal contents were similar among treatments, while chlorate tended to decrease ( P=0.08) and reduced ( P<0.05) E. coli O157:H7 populations in the cecum and rectum, respectively. Populations of generic E. coli in the cecal contents were numerically lower ( P=0.11) in the LOW treatment and tended to decrease ( P=0.06) in the MED and HIGH chlorate treatments, respectively. Fermentation profiles through the gastrointestinal tract were unaffected as indicated by slight, but not significant, changes in volatile fatty acids (VFA) profiles in sheep fed chlorate. Results from this study indicate that this experimental chlorate product, administered in the feed, was effective in reducing E. coli O157:H7 from the lower gut of sheep as evidenced by the lower cecal and rectal but not ruminal concentrations. Feeding chlorate may be an effective method to decrease E. coli O157:H7 populations in ruminant animals prior to slaughter.

Effects of Meat Recalls on Futures Market Prices

The number of meat recalls has increased markedly in recent years. This research examines the impact of beef and pork recall announcements on nearby daily live cattle and lean hog futures market prices, respectively. Results indicate medium-sized beef recalls that are of serious health concerns have a marginally negative impact on short-term live cattle futures prices. However, results are not robust across recall size and severity. This research suggests that if there is any systematic change in cattle and hog demand due to meat recalls, it likely occurs over an extended period of time and only in certain cases does it noticeably affect daily futures prices.